Centrifude:


Henry you are being seriously Childish and petty right now.

"Algerian1, when did you guys get the Norinco
VP6?"

What's so ridiculous about this question?

Algerian1 has proven to have a lot of Knowledge about his country's procurement system, and defense systems in general, him being Student Doctor has nothing to do with it.

Last we heard, Algerian1 has been busy with his Military training which is why he disappeared.

It's like asking when did the N.A.F get the Super Mushkat trainers...

You need to relax bro. 

frumentius:
Cousins, are you also mounting something more substantial on your RG-32's remote weapons stations?

ViceAdmirlAgain:

Me thinks u know something we dont

frumentius:


No I don't. It's just that those piddly PKs just look wrong and I haven't heard of you mounting anything beyond that. What's the point of buying the SDROW - which can handle anything from 5.56 to 20mm - just to put PKs on it?

Your RG-32s look impressive. Do you know your guys got Denel to so tailor it that it's now a variant on its own, the RG-32MN?
By the way, now that ICP incorporated your feed-back and made changes to the REVA FAV, are you buying more?

ViceAdmirlAgain:


What are the modifications on our RG-32's by the way?

SF might buy but it'll be under some cloud of secrecy seeing that in our current economic situation defence purchaces are met with negatively by the public

4 arty brigade gunners

saengine:
First female Rooivalk pilot in the SAAF. Is this not the same lady from those old-ish SANDF pics on the net, carrying a log on her back?

patches689:


Yep, had to dig deep into my archives but she seems to be slightly "internet famous".

I got these picks like 5 years ago.

She has also aged much better than I have

patches689:


Americans are so used to having massive air-support that it is now instinctual for them to start marking targets to get hit by non-existant F-16's

Radio Silence – A Lesson in Mission Command

Contributor: Will has 6 years of hands on infantry leadership experience
While practising radio silence on a recent exercise I realised just how reliant I had become on technology. It had made me lazy and more controlling than I would like to admit.

In Eastern Europe 2014 a column of Mechanised and Air Mobile forces from the Ukrainian Army was struck by a devastating rocket bombardment lasting only 3 minutes. The result was over 100 casualties and many vehicles destroyed. It initially seemed as if the column had been targeted with Electronic Warfare (EW) assets; a sensor that detects radio transmissions and sends the location back to the rocket battery for targeting. This is a worrying prospect for any military commander; that enemy artillery could home in on a radio transmission. This development leads us to adapt and overcome. An easy way to combat enemy EW capabilities would be to impose radio silence; an exercise often talked about, but rarely actually done. Up to now in my career I had never exercised radio silence and I found the concept of not being able to communicate with my subordinates during a task uncomfortable. So, on a recent exercise we gave the enemy forces EW and an artillery capability, forcing us to impose radio silence. What I learned was much more than how to combat EW and the technicalities of imposing radio silence, but a lesson in leadership, mission command and empowerment.

The first mission, anti-armour ambush, I briefed as I usually would with a clear intent and key timings, but also imposed radio silence. Overall the action went well and the task was performed to the same standard as it would be using radios throughout. However, the ambush was sprung on a lone enemy vehicle moving along the track. The team understood the intent: destroy enemy armour, and acted. However, a larger column came through later untouched. With radios, I would have said: ‘hold fire,’ on the lone vehicle. More detail in my brief covering all eventualities would have prevented this. Here I discovered that radios had made me lazy in my briefing because I knew I could control it well during the action.

So, for the next exercise I made sure I considered all eventualities and briefed the commanders applying more timings and constraints where necessary. When can you break radio silence? What should you do if you lose comms? What should you do if you get cut off? And if all else fails, destroy all enemy tanks and meet back at the rendezvous No Later Than 0230hrs. This time I witnessed several changes in the unit. I saw junior commanders making decisions, good decisions, without any direction from me. One of the teams missed their pick up and rather than speak on the radio trying to rearrange it they carried out their task on foot successfully. Other teams encountered difficulties during the mission but they knew the intent and end state and were able to complete their tasks without further direction for 36hrs of radio silence.

Overall it was a liberating exercise. It showed me that my subordinates are incredibly intelligent, capable soldiers who, when empowered, given a clear intent and detailed set of constraints can be released on task and will carry it out to a high standard without further direction. All I needed to do was trust them. It was also a relief for them not hearing me over the radio always asking for an update. Radio silence is the ultimate exercise in mission command and is tactically relevant. Try asking yourself: Am I enquiring because I need to or because I can?

ViceAdmirlAgain:


What are the modifications on our RG-32's by the way?

SF might buy but it'll be under some cloud of secrecy seeing that in our current economic situation defence purchaces are met negatively by the public

4 arty brigade gunners

frumentius:


No I don't. It's just that those piddly PKs just look wrong and I haven't heard of you mounting anything beyond that. What's the point of buying the SDROW - which can handle anything from 5.56 to 20mm - just to put PKs on it?

Your RG-32s look impressive. Do you know your guys got Denel to so tailor it that it's now a variant on its own, the RG-32MN?
By the way, now that ICP incorporated your feed-back and made changes to the REVA FAV, are you buying more?

frumentius:
And because Tillerson and his people were coming to "Affrica", they decided safari outfits were appropriate .

What are you insinuating?

Xbee007:

What are you insinuating?

frumentius:
And because Tillerson and his people were coming to "Affrica", they decided safari outfits were appropriate .

frumentius:
And because Tillerson and his people were coming to "Affrica", they decided safari outfits were appropriate .

Sizzorkay:
While you failed to mention that his visit to that particular area was to highlight the importance of conserving Africa's wildlife population?
And to inspect some items donated just for that? Some half baked comment you left there.
What he supposed to wear a suit? Lord

frumentius:


You can sod right off. The emoticons I chose weren't accidental.
Had I chosen to, I would've gone on about how this was a business meeting to discuss conservation. He's not on a fvcking safari and his Kenyan hosts are alive to the occasion.

frumentius:
Bye bye Safari man.

Xbee007:

Apparently, Putin has requested for a new staffing order.

frumentius:
WARNING: Rant coming on

Looks like I might have another 3-month deployment in the DRC, when 5SAI rotates out in April. Fine.
And here comes the rant: if the UN won't pay for Rooivalk and our troops will be left at the mercy of air cover provided by ineffectual Hinds -the UN itself admits the Hind's shortcomings - then we should completely pull out. Everything; the 5 Oryx they want to retain and the Battalion group assigned to the FIB. After Bangui, politicians gave assurances that never again shall our troops deploy without effective air support.
The Brazilians forced the UN to accept Super Tucanos and BlackHawks for their coming deployment to CAR. The Dutch, Belgians and Germans refused to paint their choppers UN white in Mali.

Hell, personally I won't be affected by the decision to withdraw the Rooivalk. But how do I sit in Goma planning missions when I know at best 1 Hind will be available and only in daylight hours!

RANT OVER.

tdayof:


Why not fund the operational costs of the Rooivalk yourself?

frumentius:

We fund everything and then get reimbursed at the end of the year, depending on whether all UN conditions were met, like 90% operational availability etc.

The problem is that some accountant sitting in UN HQ in New York decided there was no operational need for Rooivalk and Hinds were sufficient. If we retain them, no reimbursement. They were asking such ridiculous questions like why must they always fly in pairs, when all the countries flying Hinds are happy to send out only 1 on missions. It's SAAF attack heli doctrine, we said. Adapt the doctrine and it'll be cheaper was the reply.
MONUSCO won't have a heli night attack capability, we said. Monusco must adapt came the answer.

Savings in money are paid for with soldiers' lives.
Apparently the military professionals at the UN DPKO are pushing back, as are some of the troop-contributing countries like India who withdrew their Hinds when Rooivalks were slotted in.

rawswag:
Its so discouraging and disgusting what this thread is turning into....it "WAS" once a picture only thread with discussions on the minimal but now i have to go through three pages of childish arguements just to see a picture its really disheartening